Another friend says goodbye.

Today was the funeral of our friend, A.   She was in her eighties but appeared to be quite fit.   In fact we were out for lunch on the Sunday before she died.   But, sadly, she passed away leaving behind a grieving husband and family.

Today's rousing funeral in a Swaledale village , in the Wesleyan Methodist Church, was a fitting send off for this lovely lady.   There was a good crowd of her friends and family.   The hymns were well-chosen and included the W I 'hymn' Jerusalem, as she was always a keen member of the W I.   And the service ended with everyone singing 'Beautiful Swaledale', A's favourite song, which she could often be persuaded to sing at parties.   The whole service must have been a great comfort to everyone who knew and loved her.

And afterwards, as I recounted last week after the previous funeral, there was an enormous spread of food in the village hall.   The farmer was honoured, along with seven other local men, to be a bearer but he managed to get back in time to fill his plate with food, after laying A to rest in a churchyard with the most beautiful view.

Sadly, we arrived home to find that another dear friend, S, had died early this morning.   This makes three in three weeks.   They say things come in threes.   Let us hope so.   We need a few pieces of good news now to balance things out.   S was a wonderful character and will be very much missed around the village.